George Bird Grinnell called Glacier National Park the "crown of the continent" because within the area of a few inches a raindrop will either drain through the Columbia to the Pacific, through the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, or through the Saskatchewan to Hudson Bay. A matter of inches!
We started our day by driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road, an engineering marvel that climbs to the Continental Divide at Logan's Pass. It was breathtaking to see the glacier-carved valley, the huge peaks, and the dozens of streams of working their way down to the rivers below.
But this would not be a driving tour day. From Logan's Pass we intended to take the 'Highline Trail' eight miles to Granite Park Chalet and then four miles down the 'Loop Trail' to meet a shuttle that would return us to our car.
After a trip nearly bereft of wildlife, the trail started in splendid fashion with four mountain goats munching on the trail. We would end up seeing two other groups of goats later in the hike as well as a buck deer that led the way for a bit.
The hike was amazing. After climbing several thousand feet to Logan's Pass, our trail essentially maintained that elevation while winding back along the path of the road. It was many of the same vistas we had seen before, but from several thousand feet up.
And then there was snow. Before setting out, a ranger mentioned that the trail was open but they recommend every hiker have poles because of the snow. Typical ranger caution. And towards the beginning it seemed like I was right as there was snow, but nothing too serious.
And then it got serious. Real serious. And my sneakers (sneakers!) and lack of poles became a nightmare. Slipping and sliding on the ice, crossing streams running down the mountain, and all the while trying to avoid a wrong step that would slide you right off the mountain. And then it started raining...
Wet feet and difficulty aside, it was a blast and a tremendous sense of accomplishment when we reached the chalet. And as an extra treat, from the chalet everyone was pointing their binoculars across the way to a grizzly bear mother with her two cubs. But Cristy and I didn't have time to linger. We had taken our time on the Highline Trail and had not checked the clock until reaching the chalet. It was 5pm and we had to cover the next four miles of the Loop Trail in an hour twenty minutes or we would miss the last shuttle back to Logan's Pass.
So we booked it. Advantage of the Loop Trail is that it was all downhill, but it was brutal descending 2,000 feet already sore from the last eight miles and worried about missing the bus. But we made it! Right at 6:15pm with five minutes to spare. Next time, we leave the car at the end of the trail and take the shuttle up to the trail start. Seems so obvious.
We made it back to our car dirty and exhausted and started heading east to find a campsite for the night. Our first option was completely full. Our second option was completely full. And when the light rain we had seen earlier turned into a thunderstorm, we decided to keep going past the park and find a hotel.
Easier said than done in northern Montana. We finally found a Super 8 in Conrad to crash for the night. Two highlights from the drive. One, the most spectacular rainbow either Cristy or I had ever seen. Every color and clear as day - almost wanted to go look for that pot of gold. Second, cows on the road!
1 comment:
Great pictures. I feel like you two are Lewis and Clark. Except a couple. And you're going the other way.
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